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Harrods Closes Its Animal Kingdom

HARRODS has closed its famed pet department. The space - which has formerly sold lions, elephants and alligators - will now be home to a new womenswear department.

"The Pet Kingdom department will close to make way for further exciting planned developments in our womenswear offering," a spokesperson for Harrods said.

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The department first opened in 1917, when it offered customers the chance to buy exotic animals - from tigers to camels. Canadian actress Beatrice Lillie is said to have given Noël Coward an alligator, bought from the store, as a gift, while former American president Ronald Reagan once ordered a baby elephant called Gertie.

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In 1976, the Endangered Species Act was passed and the store was forced to stop selling exotic pets and to stick to domestic animals - such as dogs, hamsters and guinea pigs. In the past, the shop has come under fire from animal charities, which are pleased by the section's closure.

"A pet shop is not an appropriate environment in which to sell puppies and kittens, and our supporters have long expressed their concern about the UK's most famous department store selling pets," The Dog's Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin told The Telegraph.